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Posts Tagged 'album reviews'
Ben Folds Five: The Sound of the Life of the Mind (2012)
A quick scan of the KMA archives suggests that I haven't posted an actual album review in two and a half years. It's only fitting, then, that when I finally do write one up, it's for an album that came out months ago. Of course, it's also for a record that took months longer to get shipped to me than it should have, so I guess we're all at fault here. Share the blame. Or at least my part of it.
To briefly recap the necessary history, Ben Folds Five (Ben Folds, Darren Jessee, and Robert Sledge) was together for roughly seven years before separating in 2000. They reunited for a one-off show in North Carolina in 2008 (one week before I was in the area for a wedding – boo!) but had otherwise gone their separate ways until late 2011 or so, when I first started hearing rumblings of a new album and tour.
Sure enough, in the spring of 2012, Ben Folds Five launched a campaign via MusicPledge (basically, it's like Kickstarter, except… well, it's exactly like Kickstarter) where fans could fund the recording of the new album. Rewards for backers ranged from MP3s to a custom version of the song Do It Anyway rewritten to be about you. At $2,500, that one was sadly out of my price range (this did not stop me from considering it, ever so briefly, but I did not Do It Anyway). Instead, I opted for a signed vinyl record (I'm not really into autographs if I didn't get them personally, but I bought in early and initially, there was no unsigned vinyl option) and a CD. These came with a digital download as well.
Due to some sort of snafu, my copies of the record and CD were months late. I hadn't even thought of it since I got my digital download as soon as it was available. The first time I realized that I was still owed my rewards was when I got a very apologetic email from Ben Folds Five's manager, offering me a CD or a t-shirt as a make-good. I opted for the extra CD (which showed up before the CD and signed record I'd initially ordered), which I gave to a fellow BF5 fan.
At any rate, my CD and record finally showed up!
Isn't that lovely? And as an added bonus, all people who contributed to the campaign were credited in the liner notes as Vice-President of Promotion. This was a running theme throughout the promotion of the record, with fans encouraged to use the hashtag #ImADamVP when tweeting about the record. I'm guessing that I bought in fairly early, given my early placement in the liner notes (two rows under Promotion):
So after all that, is the record any good? The first thing I note is that the album, as a whole, sounds more mature than earlier efforts. The first song, Erase Me, is a breakup song in the vein of 1997's Song For The Dumped. It almost works as a sequel of sorts; while Song For The Dumped takes place immediately after "you dumped me on your front porch," Erase Me is a few weeks removed from the split, after the singer's ex "turned around in two weeks' time, replaced me." Erase Me doesn't have the out-of-control anger of Dumped, but there might be even more bitterness.
Similarly, I have no reason to think that the Sara(h?) in the title track is the same Sara-spelled-without-an-H that Ben Folds introduced on 2001's Rockin' The Suburbs, but I like to think that she broke up with Zak, grew up some, got her shit together, and is looking forward to moving on with life. This song was written by Nick Hornby (who also collaborated with Folds on the album Lonely Avenue) and I highly doubt he set out to write a sequel to Zak & Sara but I am not about to let "facts" stop me.
I think the best song on the album is On Being Frank. I generally prefer the faster, catchier songs, but Ben Folds does have a knack for writing some nicely depressing songs when he sets his mind to it. This one is written from the perspective of Frank Sinatra's long-time assistant, who finds himself directionless after Sinatra's death:
I shook the hands
Of mafia dons and presidents
And though they always smiled politely
With a measure of decorum
Still their eyes would scan beyond me
For a glimpse of something more
But now he's gone
And now they're gone
Frank doesn't make good driving music and I can't see it being a hit single – but then, I didn't think I'd hear a ballad about a teenaged couple's abortion on the radio either, so what do I know? Compared to Brick, "I don't know where I might be going / I rode the wind; the wind stopped blowing" is pretty tame.
Now that we've had some nice grown-up songs, the chorus of the song after On Being Frank is "If you can't draw a crowd, draw dicks on the wall." This is by far the silliest song on the record, and after dozens of listens, I'm still not entirely sure what it's supposed to be about. It's fun to sing along to, so I don't really care. And like most songs on this album, there's a hint of something darker lurking underneath: "Is it all in my mind? I could have sworn I saw it / I thought I was fine, 'til 'fine' was what I called it."
The first single off the album is Do It Anyway, a song that Folds basically wrote on the spot in the middle of a live show. He played the original recording during an interview with Jian Ghomeshi on Q and it was amazing just how much of the song sprang to life fully formed (you can hear it about 14:45 into that video clip). Folds recorded it on his phone, I believe, and I'd pay $1.29 for the iTunes download, just because it makes for such a neat b-side. Most of the song is about facing and ignoring your fears, not letting "good" judgment keep you from great experiences (I've already talked about what a questionable decision it may have been to write and release that song, given that Folds may never again be allowed to wisely decline any offer). And much like Draw A Crowd, this is a fun number that takes a melancholy turn: "It's gonna be so very hard to say and watch the trust and joy all drain from her innocent face, but you must do it anyway / It sucks, but do it anyway."
Michael Praytor, Five Years Later is a about those people that you never quite shake from your life, even though you never do anything to keep them around. The titular Praytor comes back every five years, "in film, divorced, inspired, engaged, in chemo, born again, and fired." He also showcases a Ben Folds trademark – the dude loves to use proper names in his songs, and if they ever-so-coincidentally rhyme with what he wants to write about, so much the better. I find this affectation grating in some of Folds' weaker songs, but I am perfectly fine with it here.
There are also a handful of slower songs on this album that didn't really stand out as much to me. None of them are bad; just not as noteworthy. The album closes with three straight, and when driving around, I find I skip past them to get to some of the faster songs. This isn't really fair – I especially enjoy Hold That Thought when I actually listen to it – but so it goes.
I was concerned about the Five three would come up with for their first album in over a decade. They've made some of my favourite records and I didn't want anything that would tarnish their legacy. I've often said that Ben Folds is a great songwriter who would benefit from occasionally having an editor. He's written some of my most-loved songs, along with a handful that I just can't stand. And while there's nothing here that will displace my very favourite BF5 song (Philosophy, if you were wondering) (or indeed if you weren't), The Sound of the Life of the Mind doesn't have anything that I really don't care for; we get one classic, and a number of solid additions to the band's repertoire. Folds has said that the recording sessions left them with enough material for two more albums, and I'm looking forward to them.
Tags:album reviews, ben folds, ben folds five, music
Crash Test Dummies: Oooh La-La!
I can't go so far as to call Oooh La-La a return to form for the Crash Test Dummies. I loved their 1993 album God Shuffled His Feet about as much as I've loved any album ever. It turned me into a fan of the band immediately; to give you the short version, I became friends with lots of other CTD fans online, I took over a CTD fan site that one of my friends had started, and eventually turned it (with lots of help) into the Crash Test Dummies' official website. So it's a bit of an unfair comparison, but regardless, Oooh La-La is not going to set me back on the webmastering path.
The primary appeal of GSHF (we had lots of acronyms back in the website days) was the witty, quirky, intelligent lyrics that were unlike anything else I'd ever heard. I have no idea what I'd think of that album if I heard it for the first time today, but when I was 17, it was fantastic.
Given my personal involvement with the band, I'm a bit leery about publicly admitting that the more recent CTD releases (which were really Brad Roberts' solo albums) just didn't do it for me. The witty lyrics were gone, replaced with short little rhyming couplets about nothing at all.
I've often thought that Roberts' songwriting was the victim of its own success. The simplest song on GSHF, lyrically, was Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, their biggest hit (or, if you're American, their only hit). Their follow-up album, A Worm's Life, was full of structurally and lyrically similar songs. Give Yourself A Hand was their next album, and it was the first to feature the lazy, cut-and-paste songs about nothing that would dominate their following records. The lead-off track, Keep A Lid On Things, was their last major Canadian hit.
I remember reading somewhere that Brad found songwriting to be very challenging, so it's hard to blame the guy for taking shortcuts when there's almost an inverse relationship between effort and reward.
Point being, I went into Oooh La-La with low expectations. But that's okay, because they were delightfully exceeded. And I can't take all the credit; I went into the last few albums with low expectations too, but that didn't help.
Oooh La-La sounds like Brad actually had a good time making it. Working with different songwriters and composing the whole album on toy instruments has resulted in songs that don't feel as constrained as those on the past few records. There's no forced genre or theme, and the album as a whole benefits for it. It's lyrically stronger than its recent predecessors, and the musical variety helps to keep things interesting.
After spewing out way too many words to set the scene, I really don't want to torture you further by going song-by-song through the whole record. It shouldn't take as long to read an album review as it would take to listen to the album. So quickly, the highlights include Songbird (though I don't agree with Brad's statement that it's the best song he's ever written), And It's Beautiful (complete with chanting – presumably related to Brad's Satang Circus side project), and Ellen Reid's closing track Put A Face. My least-favourite tracks are Not Today Baby (if there's one word that should be banned from any future CTD songs due to overuse, it's "baby") and What I'm Famous For ("you can go to hell while I comb my hair" – I get distracted by lines that are obviously written just because they rhyme).
In a ranking of all of their records, Oooh La-La lands in the top half. If you've never been a Crash Test Dummies fan, this won't do anything to change your mind. And if you've never heard them at all, just start with God Shuffled His Feet and go from there. But if you're familiar with their music and liked it, you would do well to pick this up.
Tags:album reviews, crash test dummies, music
Danko Jones: Below the Belt
About two years ago, I picked up Danko Jones' Never Too Loud and, well, I didn't care for it. I don't think I've listened to it since then. Since then, I ordered his b-sides collection (named, creatively, B-Sides) and enjoyed it, but I still wasn't holding out a lot of hope. And yet, when I was surprised to find Below The Belt at the record store – seriously, I need to start paying more attention to release dates – I decided I'd give it a chance. I never learn.
Sometimes, it's good to not learn from past mistakes.
Danko Jones is one of those acts that does one thing really well – in his case, it's loud driving rock songs about sex, rock, personal awesomeness, and the non-awesomeness of others – and Below The Belt is a return to form. Really, I could go through the whole album and assign each song to one of those categories, and I am perfectly fine with that. Before the first song is over, Jones is threatening to "fuck you up." On lead-off single Full Of Regret, Danko doesn't bother mourning lost love, so much as a lost evening. Although… I can't quite figure out the symbolism behind the song Magic Snake – whatever could that mean?
The highlight might be the album's closer, I Wanna Break Up With You. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd draw a pie chart showing that this song was 10% about sex, 25% about personal awesomeness, and 65% about the non-awesomeness of others. What starts as a spirited list of grievances leads into the chorus, a lilting choir of Dankos declaring their intentions of moving on. The happy Danko choir also sings "I hate you" at one point, which I shouldn't find as funny as I do. There's no self-pity here and this is is not Song For The Dumped – this is Song For The Dumper Who Has Been Waiting A Bit Too Long For This Moment And Is Going To Make It Count. Eventually, the song breaks down (breaks up?) into an army of Dankos leading a chant of "break up, break up, everybody break up." This should be a single.
I love you, Danko Jones. Let's never fight again.
(P.S. I totally gave in and I'm listening to Never Too Loud now, and, yeah, it's still nothing special. Sorry, dude. We cool?)
Tags:album reviews, danko jones, music
Tory Cassis: The Saturday Night Function
You know those friends that you really like, but you never seem to stay in touch with? For me, Tory Cassis is one of those people. Except, of course, I don't, y'know, KNOW the guy or anything.
I was introduced to Tory Cassis when he opened for Moxy Früvous at Louis' in Saskatoon in 1999. A singer-songwriter with jazz influences, I quite enjoyed his set and bought Anywhere But Here, his debut album. The next day, I drove to Regina to check out Früvous again (they would change up their sets a great deal from night to night), and I listened to Cassis' album on the drive up. It's quite good and I told him so, as I had the chance to chat with him after his set in Regina. He seemed very appreciative and just a genuinely nice guy. I don't demand that artists (athletes, actors, coworkers, whoever) have to be nice people for me to appreciate what they do, but it does help. I'm kind of a jerk like that.
After those two shows in two days, he kind of fell off my radar. I'd drop the CD in every so often, and I'd still enjoy it, but I never heard about anything new coming from him. Web searches indicated he was playing gigs around Toronto, in the scene that seemed to include Big Rude Jake and (ex-Früvous) David Matheson, among many others. And so it went – think of the album, listen to the album, like the album, look him up online, nothing, repeat.
I should mention at this point that when writing for KMA, I usually listen to music by the artist I'm writing about. I have, however, paused the Tory Cassis album to listen to an MP3 Rob set me of some kind of Ethel Merman dance remix. I have no idea why he sent this or why I am listening to it. Just thought I'd share.
I had wanted the new Novillero CD and unable to find one locally, I hit MapleMusic. Since I was ordering something ANYWAY, this was a great excuse to poke around and see if there was anything else that interested me. And a new Tory Cassis album? Definitely interesting.
I should qualify that by saying I have no idea how new it actually is. Nowhere on the album art or liner notes – which I would kindly describe as "minimalist" – does it actually say the year. CDDB (via iTunes) says 2005, so that's what I'm going with. Either way, it's still new to me.
The new album is called The Saturday Night Function, and I can imagine this is what a Saturday night with Tory and a small band would sound like. It sounds less produced than his first album, and I would describe it as more of a jazz album as opposed to being jazz-influenced. I don't know if that was an artistic choice or if budgetary reasons made the decision for him; either way, the two albums complement each other nicely. The voice and the style carry over from one to the next, and that's reason enough for me to recommend it.
Truthfully, I couldn't tell you why I like Tory Cassis as much as I do – his style of music isn't one that I'm overly familiar with or one that I've sought out in the past. But for whatever reason, I keep coming back to his music and I hope it won't take another nine years between albums.
BUY IT: MapleMusic
Tags:album reviews, music, tory cassis
Danny Michel: Feather, Fur & Fin
I found my first Danny Michel album during my first trip to the Vinyl Diner. Aaron – who, it should be noted, had lived in Saskatoon for something like 24 years less than I had at that point – had discovered the place and took me there on one Monday afternoon. He introduced me to Stu, the proprietor, who was a very nice guy who (mostly) suppressed the eye-rolls brought on by the stack of CDs I was trading in.
With a pile of store credit, I plowed through the used CD racks and took a stack of discs home. Truth be told, most of what I picked up that day eventually found its way back to Stu's, but Danny Michel's album Fibsville has a permanent home in my CD collection. Sometimes, you hear an album and it just instantly appeals to you; this was one of those for me. Since then, I've picked up the rest of his records, the live DVD, and I've seen him in concert three times – but I've always held a soft spot for Fibsville.
Which is why I'm surprised to say that Feather, Fur & Fin easily tops it.
The press release touts Feather, Fur & Fin as Michel's first truly independent release since 2001. From the very first listen, it's clear that this (new? familiar?) arrangement suits Michel well. I don't know if its the lack of record company interference or just the freedom that comes from making all your own decisions, but the ten songs here all count among the strongest that he's ever written. The album trends towards longer, slower tunes, but there's still the one-two punch of I'm 'a Love You Anyway and Sweet Things, two of the more energetic songs in Michel's catalogue. And topics like religion and the environment (and, uh, Mexican wrestling) creep into Danny's lyrics for the first time, giving the album a bit more of a personal feel than long-time listeners would be used to.
Of course, anyone who knows me would suspect that I'd give a positive review to any album featuring a track about lucha libre (The 14 Masks of Danger). This is possibly true. I especially appreciated the reference to El Santo, as I wasn't expecting the song to mention any actual specific luchadors. And I checked with Cubs, and the other wrestler mentioned – The Black Tornado – was a real guy too. I thought that the name might have been a reference to Danny's song Black Tornadoes from his previous release, but Cubs says that Santo won the mask ("or his hair or something") of Tornado Negro way back when. Though ultimately, I suspect that Danny Michel just knows a few names and is not exactly a die-hard lucha fan; I've listened to Fibsville a fair bit, and the song Souvenir indicates that Danny and pro wrestling don't see eye-to-eye (A shiny gladiator cage / for pay-per-view and caveman rage / it's the ultimate bullshit parade). But hey, I could be wrong. Maybe he just doesn't like MMA.
As mentioned, Feather, Fur & Fin is an independent release, and the problem with doing everything yourself is that you have to do everything yourself. This includes distribution, which means that you might have a hard time finding it. As of this writing, the album is only available online, at shows, and in select independent music stores. Sure, it's easy enough to order CDs online or buy digital downloads, but will people take a chance on it? It would be a shame if this album didn't find an audience.
That was a pretty gushing review, complete with blatant plugs. I'll balance it out by saying I could have done without the backing vocals in If God's On Your Side. I'm all about being fair and responsible.
Tags:album reviews, danny michel, music
Danko Jones: Never Too Loud
One of my great joys is finding new musical treasures. Today, I stopped in at the local HMV on my way back from lunch. I was already running late, and I was certain they wouldn't have anything I wanted, but HMV keeps doing this bastardly thing of finding one new release that I really want, and dropping the price to $9.99 so I can't say no. It's just so… reasonable! And lo and behold, I found a new Danko Jones album! I love Danko Jones! What a surprise treat for me! I had heard rumblings that a new album was being worked on, but I had no idea when it was coming out. A happy day! My ignorance paid off!
So I took the album back to work with me, tossed it into the ol' corporate laptop, plugged in my earphones, and prepared for the full-on aural assault that I have come to expect and love from Danko Jones. And I'm still waiting.
I don't review a lot of albums on here because I am no good at actually describing music. I can post concert reviews because I focus on all the extracurricular activities that surround the show itself, but I don't really know from music. I don't know when someone is or is not in tune. I don't really understand what "pitch" is. I know only a limited number of adjectives and I beat them all into the ground. I can't play an instrument at all and I don't know when someone is or is not playing theirs well. As such, I will defer at this time to Chart's review of Never Too Loud, where it claims that:
Never Too Loud sounds like an album, rather than a close approximation of the real thing. The songs feel more finished here, unlike some found on previous discs where emotion, rather than articulation, was key.
Interesting. So the album is more polished than his previous albums (and the live shows), but that polish has come at the expense of emotion. This is much more explanatory and articulate than my email to Mika, which summed up the entire album like so:
When did Danko Jones get so pussified?
I bought a new car, and just yesterday, I was thinking that a Danko CD would be great driving music. I still think that – just not THIS Danko CD. Indeed, this album has done a great job of making me want to listen to his other albums.
There were actually two sentences in that email to Mika. The other was:
This album is barely about fucking or touring at all!
I see now that this is not entirely accurate. I can't really find fault in the lyrics on this new record, since Danko's songs have always been… single-minded? I guess that's a good way to put it. A bunch of songs about girls and another bunch about the power of rock. And these themes are still explored on this album. Girls = hot, rocking = awesome. Fair enough – a good scientist always repeats his experiments to ensure consistent conclusions. It's just that the passion isn't there. The fury isn't there. Ravenous is almost sweet. And the song Never Too Loud just kind of made me feel sad for the old man who's losing his hearing.
Given all the songs on this album, though, Never Too Loud was the best choice for the album title. Not once did I have to turn it down. Danko had already done that.
Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
I bought this album this morning. Just finished listening to it now. My first reaction is that the whole thing may well have been just one really long song. Sure, I was working while this was playing, but still. Nothing stood out. All very similar.
Having said that, it was all one very good song. If it was all similar, it wasn't a BAD similar. Even when I wasn't really paying attention, I caught myself tapping my toes and bopping up and down. Fun times.
I am a delight to work with, as you can tell.
So what then? Well, this nicely illustrates why I came up with this whole plan of revisiting old albums that I used to love. Even if I haven't heard them in years, I am very familiar with those albums. I dare say I know them. And that takes time.
For right now, I say that the new Modest Mouse is "perfectly fine." Should you buy it? Well, I found it new for $9, and I figure it was worth that, so if you find the same deal, then yeah, go for it.
But I can't tell you how I'll feel about this album in six months' time. "Perfectly fine" is my initial reaction to a lot of albums. Sometimes I get distracted by something else and I never wind up going back to give a CD a second chance. Other times I play the album again – mostly out of guilt, since I spent good cash moneys on it – and after a few spins, something just clicks and it becomes a favourite. That's how New Pornographers albums generally work for me. I listen, they're good, but nothing stands out. A few more listens and everything suddenly sounds distinct and delightful. Maybe that will happen here? I can't tell you. But I enjoy tapping my toes and bopping up and down, so I am hopeful. I'll make a point of giving it a second chance.
Tags:album reviews, modest mouse, music
The Refreshments: Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy
It was a noble idea. Through the power of love the iPod, I would travel backwards in time about ten years and revisit some of the albums that I loved to death. By which I mean albums that I overdosed on.
You know the ones. You heard them, you loved them, and then… well, it's hard to say what happened, really. Times change, tastes change, and some songs just have a shelf life. I've thought a lot about songs and albums that love (or those that I used to love), and wondered what would happen if they came along for the first time today. There are some albums that I really enjoyed and some that meant a lot to me, and I list them, and people say "…really? That?" And that's where this all began.
The idea was to pick a bunch of albums that I loved in the 90s but haven't heard in full for a very long time. I could do a series of reviews or just write them all up in essay format. I hadn't decided and as I write this, I still haven't. I imagine I'll do individual album posts since there are at least a few that I could expound upon at great length – lucky you.
The first one I listened to was Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy by The Refreshments. Around these parts, they were never that popular, and their fifteen minutes of fame seemed to last only literally that long. If you've heard anything by them – apart from the theme song to King of the Hill – it was their single Banditos:
Now give your ID card to the border guard
Yeah, your alias says you're Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the United Federation of Planets
'Cause they don't speak English anyway
This, in essence, was the catalyst for this project. A friend of mine brought up the song when recalling how a sci-fi-loving mutual friend was obsessed with it. I tried to explain that the whole album was actually really good, but stopped myself – did I really want to endorse this album from over ten years ago? Was it still awesome? Was it ever?
The first thing I noticed was that pretending that I'd never heard this album before was impossible. The start of each song brought about a nice little feeling of recognition. "Hey, this one! I know this one!" Of course I do, that's the point, right? But still. Makes it hard to determine if I'd still like it if I was hearing it now for the first time.
The album is as it was. 90s rock music infused with some southwestern and Mexican influences. Lots of songs about Mexico – enough that after a while, you might want something else. There's a definite sense of humour at work here, which is a refreshing change from a lot of the music coming out today, but humour in music can also limit an album's longevity. You can only hear the same joke so many times.
In the end, replaying this album was kind of like seeing an old friend again for the first time in a long time, only to have them overstay their welcome just a little bit. You're excited when they arrive, and though you secretly wind up a little bit glad when they leave, you'll forget that feeling pretty quickly and be glad to see them when they show up again – as long as it isn't TOO often.
Tags:album reviews, music, the refreshments
Charlotte Gainsbourg: 5:55
I discovered this CD in a roundabout sort of way, and I feel that I must disclose this so you know where I'm coming from. The other week, I saw a French movie called The Science of Sleep. I knew nothing about it except that it was:
a)- supposed to be weird, and;
b)- written and directed by Michel Gondry, who also directed a bunch of cool music videos, as well as one of my favourite movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
It was weird, and it was pretty good. Not Eternal Sunshine-good, but that movie was written by someone else (Charlie Kaufman) who has written several great movies.
Science's major flaw, as far as I was concerned, was that it was a boy-with-quirks meets girl-with-compatible-quirks movie. In and of itself, I have no problem with this. I like Eternal Sunshine. I like Amélie. I like Jim and Pam. But the problem is that in Science, the boy-with-quirks, while he has his charming moments, is a bit of a sociopath. You don't want the boy and the girl to get together in the end, or at least I didn't. You might. But I just felt bad for the girl whenever she had to deal with the boy.
A few days after watching this movie, I was pondering this, and having decided that I liked the girl-with-quirks much more than the boy-with-quirks, I decided to see if she was naked on the Internet. She is an actress, she is French, it was a safe bet. First, I went to IMDB to find out her name (Charlotte Gainsbourg, if the bold lettering up there didn't tip you off); then I went to Wikipedia to tell me facts about her that may or may not be true. It mentioned that she had an album out, and had provided spoken-word vocals for a Madonna track.
I assumed the album would be garbage and didn't really give it another thought, until I noticed it on someone's Best Albums of 2006 list. And, well, what is the Internet if not a transport system for music samples (and naked pictures of French actresses)?
So much for preconceived notions. (Of course, if I'd known she was the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg, I might have entirely different preconceived notions.) This album is great. Gainsbourg's voice is haunting in a way that perfectly matches the lyrics. It's trippy, it's dreamy, it's been stuck on repeat for a few days now. I have favourite tracks – AF607105 and Beauty Mark stand out right now – but like with any good album, they change on repeat listens until you realize that each song has taken its turn as your favourite. Get this.
Tags:album reviews, charlotte gainsbourg, music
Norm Macdonald: Ridiculous
I find that comedy albums have a pretty short shelf life. No matter how funny they are, you can only listen to them so often, you know? This may sound odd coming from a devotee of Weird Al, but I'll be honest, this applies to him too. Whenever a new Weird Al CD comes out, it gets a lot of play for about two weeks, then takes its spot on my shelf. In a few years, it will get another spin, and I'll smile, and then it's back to the shelf.
But this is not a Weird Al review. This is a Norm MacDonald review, and Norm, I think he's a funny guy. Or rather, I think his delivery is funny. Even if the material isn't great, he presents it in a way that makes me laugh. Unfortunately, this is a CD of comedy skits, not stand-up, which often takes the delivery out of the equation. There's one hidden track; a segment of stand-up making fun of Ed McMahon and Star Search. Not exactly timely, but it doesn't need to be – it's still funny. Arguably the funniest thing on the album.
The rest of the CD is hit-or-miss, with more misses than hits. Some of the skits just aren't that great and they seem to drag on forever. Like I said, when doing stand-up, MacDonald's delivery can save any material that needs it. Here, though, that trick doesn't work. "So unfunny it's funny again" might work with a live audience to play off of, but on a studio-recorded CD, it doesn't fly. Maybe it would have worked better for me if I'd heard this with friends, but I didn't, so there you go.
I don't mean to be overly negative. The funny skits are well worth listening to. However, I can't recommend that you buy this, since you're probably never going to listen to it more than once.
Tags:album reviews, comedy, norm macdonald

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UI;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System;

/// <summary>
/// This class is the controller for the UI management
/// </summary>
public class UIManager : MonoBehaviour {
    private enum UIState
    {
        Create,
        Update,
        Read,
        Delete,
    }
    UIState currState;

    public GameObject sensorViewPort;               // This is the game object that contains the list of sensor
    public GameObject previewPort;                  // Canvas intended for showing the preview of sensor and preview of urdf
    public GameObject form;                         // This is the game object that holds the form elements (input fields)
    public GameObject deleteBtn;                    // Reference to the delete button on the UI
    public GameObject categoryContainerPrefab;      // Reference for the category container to hold sensor buttons
    public GameObject sensorBtnPrefab;              // Reference to the prefab for a sensor button
    public GameObject unkownSensorPrefab;           // Reference to the prefab of an empty/unknown sensor
    public GameObject invisibleText;                // Reference to the prefab containing 3D text of inivisble
    public Text title;

    private GameObject currSelectedSensor;              // Reference to the selected sensor button game object
    private GameObject currSelectedSensorGoModel;       // Reference to the selected sensor model game object
    private UrdfDb urdf;
    private Dictionary<string, InputField> inputs;
    private Dictionary<string, Dropdown> dropdowns;
    private Dictionary<string, Toggle> toggles;
    private Dictionary<int, GameObject> categoryHolderList;
    private List<GameObject> sensors;

    /// <summary>
    /// Overloading Unity function for initiatization for this script
    /// </summary>
    void Start()
    {
        this.urdf = new UrdfDb();
        this.currState = UIState.Create; // assume that the default is to add a sensor right away
        this.sensors = new List<GameObject>();
        categoryHolderList = new Dictionary<int, GameObject>();
        setupForm();
        SensorPanelSetup();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Grabs all available inputs fields and dropdowns on the form.
    /// </summary>
    void setupForm()
    {
        this.inputs = new Dictionary<string, InputField>();
        InputField[] inputsList = form.GetComponentsInChildren<InputField>();
        foreach (InputField input in inputsList)
        {
            this.inputs.Add(input.name, input);
        }

        this.dropdowns = new Dictionary<string, Dropdown>();
        Dropdown[] dropdownList = form.GetComponentsInChildren<Dropdown>();
        foreach (Dropdown dropdown in dropdownList)
        {
            this.dropdowns.Add(dropdown.name, dropdown);
        }

        this.toggles = new Dictionary<string, Toggle>();
        Toggle[] toggleList = form.GetComponentsInChildren<Toggle>();
        foreach (Toggle toggle in toggleList)
        {
            this.toggles.Add(toggle.name, toggle);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Sets up the sensor panel by placing sensors in the appropriate category using the
    /// available prefabs.
    /// </summary>
    void SensorPanelSetup()
    {
        List<SensorCategoriesModel> categories = urdf.GetSensorCategories();
        List<UrdfTypeModel> types = urdf.GetUrdfTypes();
        List<UrdfItemModel> sensorList = urdf.GetUrdfs();

        this.dropdowns["ddCategory"].options.Add(new Dropdown.OptionData("Unknown"));
        foreach (SensorCategoriesModel category in categories)
        {
            this.dropdowns["ddCategory"].options.Add(new Dropdown.OptionData(category.name));
        }

        this.dropdowns["ddTypes"].options.Add(new Dropdown.OptionData("Unknown"));
        foreach (UrdfTypeModel type in types)
        {
            this.dropdowns["ddTypes"].options.Add(new Dropdown.OptionData(type.name));
        }

        List<headingController> headingControllers = new List<headingController>();
        GameObject unknownHolder = GameObject.Instantiate(categoryContainerPrefab);
        headingController unknownController = unknownHolder.GetComponentInChildren<headingController>();
        unknownController.SetHeadingName("Unknown");
        headingControllers.Add(unknownController);
        unknownHolder.transform.SetParent(sensorViewPort.transform, false);
        categoryHolderList.Add(0, unknownHolder);

        foreach (SensorCategoriesModel category in categories)
        {
            GameObject categoryHolder = GameObject.Instantiate(categoryContainerPrefab);
            headingController controller = categoryHolder.GetComponentInChildren<headingController>();
            controller.SetHeadingName(category.name);
            headingControllers.Add(controller);
            categoryHolder.GetComponent<CategoryHeading>().category = category;
            categoryHolder.transform.SetParent(sensorViewPort.transform, false);
            categoryHolderList.Add(category.uid, categoryHolder);
        }

        foreach (UrdfItemModel item in sensorList)
        {
            GameObject sensorBtn = GameObject.Instantiate(sensorBtnPrefab);
            Button btn = sensorBtn.GetComponent<Button>();
            Text value = sensorBtn.GetComponentInChildren<Text>();
            Sensor sensor = sensorBtn.GetComponent<Sensor>();
            sensor.item = item;
            sensor.category = categoryHolderList[item.fk_category_id].GetComponent<CategoryHeading>().category;
            value.text = item.name;
            sensorBtn.name = item.name.ToLower();
            headingControllers[item.fk_category_id].AddSensor();
            sensorBtn.transform.SetParent(categoryHolderList[item.fk_category_id].transform, false);
            btn.onClick.AddListener(() => SensorOnClick(sensorBtn));
            this.sensors.Add(sensorBtn);
        }

        foreach (headingController controller in headingControllers)
        {
            controller.UpdateSensorCount();
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Sets the UI to recongize that we're trying to add a new sensor and clears the
    /// form to allow new data to be entered.
    /// </summary>
    public void AddSensor_click()
    {
        SetUiState(UIState.Create);
        this.currSelectedSensor = null; // deselect the button, don't destory it
        GameObject.Destroy(this.currSelectedSensorGoModel);
        clearForm();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// This will clear the form for entering new sensor data.
    /// </summary>
    private void clearForm()
    {
        foreach (KeyValuePair<string, InputField> input in this.inputs)
        {
            Debug.Log(input.Value.text);
            input.Value.text = "";
        }

        foreach (KeyValuePair<string, Dropdown> dropdown in this.dropdowns)
        {
            dropdown.Value.value = 0;
        }

        foreach (KeyValuePair<string, Toggle> toggle in this.toggles)
        {
            toggle.Value.isOn = true;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Given a model of the item, it will populate the form with the appropriate values.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="item">The model of the sensor it populate in the form</param>
    private void setForm(UrdfItemModel item)
    {
        this.inputs["txtName"].text = item.name;
        this.inputs["txtModel"].text = item.modelNumber;
        this.inputs["txtInternalCost"].text = item.internalCost.ToString();
        this.inputs["txtExternalCost"].text = item.externalCost.ToString();
        this.inputs["txtNotes"].text = item.notes;
        this.inputs["txtPower"].text = item.powerUsage.ToString();
        this.inputs["txtWeight"].text = item.weight.ToString();
        this.inputs["txtTime"].text = item.time.ToString();
        this.inputs["txtPrefabPath"].text = item.prefabFilename;

        this.dropdowns["ddCategory"].value = item.fk_category_id;
        this.dropdowns["ddTypes"].value = item.fk_type_id;

        this.toggles["toggleVisibility"].isOn = (item.visibility == 0 ? false : true);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// This function will set the appropriate state before calling the
    /// saveform which will trigger the delete function
    /// </summary>
    public void DeleteForm_click()
    {
        SetUiState(UIState.Delete);
        SaveForm_click();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// This save function, grabs all the inputs and preforms the appropriate
    /// action according to the state it ccurrently is in.
    /// </summary>
    public void SaveForm_click()
    {
        UrdfItemModel item = null;
        Sensor sensor = null;
        if (this.currSelectedSensor != null)
        {
            sensor = this.currSelectedSensor.GetComponent<Sensor>();
        }

        if (sensor != null)
        {
            item = sensor.item;
        }
        else
        {
            item = new UrdfItemModel();
        }

        item.name = this.inputs["txtName"].text;
        item.modelNumber = this.inputs["txtModel"].text;
        item.notes = this.inputs["txtNotes"].text;
        item.prefabFilename = this.inputs["txtPrefabPath"].text;
        item.fk_category_id = this.dropdowns["ddCategory"].value;
        item.fk_type_id = this.dropdowns["ddTypes"].value;
        item.visibility = (this.toggles["toggleVisibility"].isOn ? 1 : 0);

        if (!float.TryParse(this.inputs["txtInternalCost"].text, out item.internalCost))
        {
            Debug.Log("[internalCost] Invalid float detected. Did you change the context type?");
        }
        if (!float.TryParse(this.inputs["txtExternalCost"].text, out item.externalCost))
        {
            Debug.Log("[externalCost] Invalid float detected. Did you change the context type?");
        }
        if (!float.TryParse(this.inputs["txtPower"].text, out item.powerUsage))
        {
            Debug.Log("[power] Invalid float detected. Did you change the context type?");
        }
        if (!float.TryParse(this.inputs["txtWeight"].text, out item.weight))
        {
            Debug.Log("[weight] Invalid float detected. Did you change the context type?");
        }
        if (!float.TryParse(this.inputs["txtTime"].text, out item.time))
        {
            Debug.Log("[time] Invalid float detected. Did you change the context type?");
        }

        switch (currState)
        {
            case UIState.Create:
                urdf.AddSensor(item);
                break;
            case UIState.Delete:
                urdf.DeleteSensor(item);
                GameObject.Destroy(this.currSelectedSensor);
                GameObject.Destroy(this.currSelectedSensorGoModel);
                SetUiState(UIState.Create);
                clearForm();
                break;
            case UIState.Update:
                urdf.UpdateSensor(item);
                this.currSelectedSensor.GetComponent<Sensor>().item = item;
                UpdateVisuals(item);
                break;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// This handles UI rules when switching states. Currently, handles heading
    /// title and the display of the delete button.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="state"></param>
    private void SetUiState(UIState state)
    {
        this.currState = state;
        switch (state)
        {
            case UIState.Create:
                deleteBtn.SetActive(false);
                title.text = "Add New Part";
                break;
            case UIState.Delete:
                deleteBtn.SetActive(false);
                break;
            case UIState.Update:
                deleteBtn.SetActive(true);
                title.text = "Updating Part - ";
                break;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// This function goes through the list of compnonents and determines if the
    /// search text is within the sensor name. If it is than it will turn it on
    /// else it will set it to not show.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value"></param>
    public void SearchFunction (string value)
    {
        bool inName = false;
        foreach (GameObject item in this.sensors)
        {
            inName = item.name.Contains(value.ToLower());
            headingController controller = item.transform.parent.GetComponentInChildren<headingController>();
            // advoid double count sensors
            if (inName && !item.transform.gameObject.activeInHierarchy)
            {
                controller.AddSensor();
            }
            else if (!inName && item.transform.gameObject.activeInHierarchy)
            {
                controller.RemoveSensor();
            }
            item.transform.gameObject.SetActive(inName);
        }
        foreach(KeyValuePair<int, GameObject> category in categoryHolderList)
        {
            headingController controller = category.Value.GetComponentInChildren<headingController>();
            controller.UpdateSensorCount();
            category.Value.SetActive(controller.hasSensors());
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Handles the click event of a sensor button. Creates a prefab of the sensor in the preview
    /// window. It will destory the preview sensor object if there is one to destory.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="sensor">A reference to the sensor button being clicked.</param>
    void SensorOnClick(GameObject sensor)
    {
        this.currSelectedSensor = sensor;
        UrdfItemModel item = sensor.GetComponent<Sensor>().item;
        setForm(item);
        SetUiState(UIState.Update);

        title.text += item.name;

        UpdateVisuals(item);
    }

    private void UpdateVisuals(UrdfItemModel item)
    {
        if (this.currSelectedSensorGoModel != null)
        {
            Destroy(this.currSelectedSensorGoModel);
        }

        if (item.visibility == 0)
        {
            this.currSelectedSensorGoModel = Instantiate(invisibleText);
        }
        else
        {
            try
            {
                this.currSelectedSensorGoModel = Instantiate(Resources.Load("Prefabs/" + item.prefabFilename, typeof(GameObject))) as GameObject;
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                this.currSelectedSensorGoModel = Instantiate(unkownSensorPrefab);
            }
            finally
            {
                this.currSelectedSensorGoModel.AddComponent<modelPreview>();
            }
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Handles the preview button click event. This will toggle the preview view port.
    /// </summary>
    public void PreviewButton_click()
    {
        previewPort.SetActive(!previewPort.activeInHierarchy);
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Tune Hotels is plotting a major expansion in the Asia Pacific region, with new deals signed in Australia and India, and plans for new budget hotels in several other markets.
Speaking to Travel Daily on Friday, Tune Hotels' Chief Executive Officer Mark Lankester revealed that the company has signed an agreement to develop 30 hotels in India. The first of these will open in Ahmedabad in the first quarter of 2013, with further Tunes planned for destinations including Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi and Trivandrum.
Speaking about the Indian expansion, Lankester said he plans to the create brand awareness in the market in an effort to target the growing number of Indians now wanting low-cost accommodation.
The brand will also roll out in Australia, with a 250-room hotel currently under construction at Sydney airport and a 235-room in Melbourne city centre. The company is also in discussions over a new property in Perth. The Sydney property marks Tune's first airport location, but Lankester said that Tune's overall company strategy was to open hotels in "good, central locations".
The CEO also revealed that Tune's first Bangkok property, which will be located on the Thai capital's Sukhumvit Soi 14, is likely to open earlier than expected on 14 September this year. The first Tune hotel in Phuket will follow by Q1 2013, and Lankester said the Thai market also presented a major opportunity for his company.
"Hat Yai was a great entry point for us, due to the strong traffic from Malaysia. But as we understand the needs of Thai domestic travellers more, we become braver," he said. Lankester added that developing properties in Thailand's regional hubs such as Chiang Mai, Khon, Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani "makes an awful lot of sense", and that Tune could also "do another six or seven hotels in Bangkok".
"People say that Bangkok is over-roomed, but I think there is still space to fill in the city – the Bangkok market is coming back," he said.
Tune is also looking to expand outside Asia Pacific, with a new hotel in the Scottish capital Edinburgh opening in December, and locations in Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Liverpool also under consideration. The company previously announced that it wants 10-15 hotels in London.
In the Middle East meanwhile, Tune has signed a joint venture agreement in Qatar, and is planning to roll-out the Tune brand in Doha, as well as locations in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE.
"Now is the time to be more aggressive," Lankester said.


text:
Q: Background initialization of a Virtual Disk (raid 10), can you power off completely and resume days later? Upon setting up a new Dell Poweredge system with RAID 10, I see in System Setup --> Virtual Disk Management the Virtual Disk I created is performing a background initialization. From my understanding, this is setting up the various parity/mirror information on the disks and not modifying any real data.
During this background initialization, I can upgrade BIOS, install an OS, etc without issues. System reboots and keeps initializing. Am I able to power off this system and resume next week and initialization will just continue where it left off?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Yakima has been a bit quirky and in the same breath, good. There are a myriad of choices for the trout to eat currently, unlike a normal February. Generally at this time of year the predominant active stonefly nymph would be the Skwala; and they are active. In addition to the Skwala, we have noticed active Salmonfly nymphs…a little early for this.
Phil with one of his first trout ever.
Been running a little behind lately. Apologize for the delay in responding. The last big water occurrence brought in some fish and the ensuing 9 days after has been some good fishing on both the swing and the bobbercator. We are however in need of some more water as everything is getting 'kinda bony'.
There have been a few of these around….on both the nymph and the swing. Water has dropped and cleared on most watersheds; in fact we need some more rain. Hopefully not as much as the last deluge.
Fishing continues to be steady – Some days have been real good lately! Best bugs include various Skwala nymphs and searching nymphs – The below bug image demonstrates one of our guides preparation for the dry fly action – Coming real soon to the Yakima! The other images are of beautiful Yakima trout.
The last water occurrence was a BIG ONE. We are excited to be back on the water :))). If your fishing using a boat there will undoubtedly be some new 'ISSUES', So be careful as big water occurences can change rivers dramatically.
These lines however, are not the best in the 'slotty fast' waters where the Skagit head with a heavier tip and heavier bug would be more appropriate, like you might find on the OP's Duc or Clearwater.
Fishing above the Teanaway has been good. Below a bit spotty based on clarity as an overall rule….River is settling and should be rockin' throughout the system sooner then later.
Here is a beautiful sea going rainbow that bit the fly the other day on the Yakima…..
With all this rain…..The river below the Teanaway is By By momentarily. Should be back in soon based on weather forecast. Between the Teanaway and the Cle Elum confluence is your best bet today.
Unfortunately, most of the rivers are going to go out with this deluge. It appears to be short lived. Perfect for next week!
Both the nymph and the swing have produced well recently. Swing fishing lately has been worthy. Used some cool lines recently; The Ultra Spey and the Nextcast Solar. Both of these lines offer an intermediate density sinking portion integrated into the body prior to the separate addition of the final sink tip. The outcome is a line that has a longer portion that sinks and at different rates. Ultimately these designs allow you to get deeper if needed and definitely slower. Two thumbs up! Flies that have produced include Cottrell's Bucket Bouncer in red, a medium size Intruder in yellow, pink, orange and Mike's Snot Rocket.
Some of the nymph days on the South OP have been crazy goood. In fact, a lot of them. Side drifting the indicator with various terminal choices including beads, yarn, jigs and the like, have all proved effective.


Massage chair provides you with a variety of massage for full body or partially for a particular area of your body. You can select the mode and the type of massage by yourself. The majority of the people seek a massage chair to kill their shoulder and neck pain usually. Let me explain the reason for neck and shoulder pain. The people working on a computer may get neck pain frequently because they use to sit for most of the time.
If you remain under stress for most of the time, you may also get shoulder and neck pain. You can't get a chance to visit a massage spa on a daily basis to get rid of the neck and shoulder pain. So, the easiest solution to this problem is to buy a massage chair that could get you rid of this issue. You may be wondering how a best massage chair can work effectively to kill the pain from any particular area of your body.
Well! Some particular massage chairs have been designed primarily to give you relief from the upper body pain. For example, Shiatsu massage chair that includes a large cushion behind the neck and shoulders area on the chair. You can just adjust the pillow according to your seat. When you sit in the chair, the cushion starts vibratory motion on your neck and shoulders. You can change the intensity and speed of this vibratory motion. The vibration on your upper back helps to stimulate the blood circulation in your body. It strengthens the muscles and makes you relax.
The control panel provides you different modes. If your primary concern is just the upper back areas, you should select kneading mode. When you sit in the chair with this mode, it starts working with multiple airbags to provide you with an excellent massage.
Some massage chairs include a large headrest that provides with the intensive massage to your neck muscles to make them relax and rejuvenate. Its high power motor produces an even and smooth vibration on the muscles. The airbags put the mild and intense pressure to make you feel like you are getting the services of an expert masseuse.
Some massage chairs come with zero gravity. When you sit in the chair to take a regular massage, you will feel that the system lifts your legs above your heart level to make you feel more weightless. Now the neck and shoulder cushions start working in your upper back area to stimulate the muscles and the spine to make you relaxed. If you have never tried this, you should try at least for once. Its' one session will give you a wonderful massage experience with pleasant feelings. Upper back areas are relaxed now, and there is no pain anywhere.
So buddies, if you are also suffering from the neck and shoulder pain, you should also get a massage chair to provide you with the relief from your pain. Stop taking pain killer tablets that are quite harmful to your immune system. Just buy a massage chair that can give you a sigh of relief and strong muscles.


Wood is biodegradable – that's a characteristic we normally consider to be one of the benefits of choosing natural materials. Organisms exist that can break down wood into its basic chemicals so that fallen logs in the forest can contribute to the growth of the next generation of life. This process – essential in the forest – must be prevented when we use wood in buildings.
A variety of fungi, insects, and marine borers have the capability to break down the complex polymers which make up the wood structure. In Canada, fungi are a more serious problem than insects. The wood-inhabiting fungi can be separated into moulds, stainers, soft-rot fungi and wood-rotting basidiomycetes. The moulds and stainers can discolour the wood however they do not significantly damage the wood structurally. Soft-rot fungi and wood-rotting basidiomycetes can cause strength loss in wood, with the basidiomycetes the ones responsible for decay problems in buildings. With regard to insects, carpenter ants only cause problems in decayed wood, and significant subterranean termite activity is confined to a few southern areas of Canada. However, other parts of the world have a serious problem with termites.
Decayed wood is the result of a series of events including a sequence of fungal colonization. The spores of these fungi are ubiquitous in the air for much of the year. Wood-rotting fungi require wood as their food source, an equable temperature, oxygen and water. Water is normally the only one of these factors that we can easily manage. This may be made more difficult by some fungi, which can transport water to otherwise dry wood. It can also be difficult to control moisture once decay has started, since the fungi produce water as a result of the decay process.
The outer portion of this log is being attacked by a decay fungus. Note that the damage is held back at the line between heartwood and sapwood. To understand why, click here to read about natural durability.
Click Here for a 26-page paper on biodeterioration, including illustrations and bibliography.


HQ caps from episode 1 of Almost Human, Pilot. Caps by Karli for Karl Urban Kiwi.
Synopsis: In the year 2048, Detective John Kennex, wounded in body and soul, returns to his old police force, but balks when he learns that his new partner is Dorian, a robot. Can he get over his mistrust of Synthetics long enough to solve the crimes plaguing the city?


During my lifetime I've never been fortunate enough to attend a conference like "Be the Hope." I have heard and read about Bishop Flunder through Dr. J. Terry Todd Associate Prof. of American Religious Studies at Drew Theo School.
I look forward to spiritual growth, empowerment, deeper informed God-centered life and to engage in a discussion about how to strengthen affirmation members and leaders focused on communication, inclusion, and reaching out to those who are isolated and marginalized.
I hope to be able to dismantle the oppressive narrative which has plagued our faith communities for centuries; particularly in the African American church. How to facilitate the conversation. How the tale of intolerance has resulted in shame, substance abuse, and HIV infection.
How do we start the conversation with a congregation which has conservative views on sexuality. "We're all apart of God's body."


014 with a great selection of Christmas songs. Persain's programme included Shepherd's Farewell by Berlioz, Rockin' around the Christmas Tree, I Orwedd mewn Preseb and Carol of the Bells. We ended with Rutter's Star Carol which was performed by both choirs then enjoyed the lovely turkey and stuffing rolls!
Amman Centre, Ammanford, 7.30 p.m.
Another very successful evening, full of fun, during which the Amman Centre was filled to capacity.
We were joined by Ammanford Town Silver Band and a great night was had by all.
Nadolig, Rutter's Candlelight Carol and Ding Dong Merrily on High.
Aberglasney Gardens, 11.00 - 12.00.
very cold day, one of several choirs to do so. Crowds of people flocked to Aberglasney to enjoy the day and the wide array of stalls with local crafts and produce. The mulled wine we received after our spot was extremely welcome.
We were very honoured to be asked to sing at this wonderful ceremony in memory of the sixteen police officers who lost their lives in the Great War. It was a very moving occasion with relatives and descendants of the officers remembered being present and there was hardly a dry eye in the house when Persain sang For the Fallen.
Bethany Chapel, Ammanford, 6.30 p.m.
The Rotary Club of Ammanford invited us to sing at their charity concert and we were very pleased to support them.
This was our first chance to sing some of our Christmas repertoire.
Our third annual concert was very well attended. The evening was compered by Rev. Lyn Rees of Saron. Our guests were renowned local baritone Aled Edwards and Ammanford Town Silver Band. We finished with a rousing chorus of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.
The choir travelled to Plymouth by coach, arriving on Friday evening. The weather was glorious and we were able to dine al fresco in the dock area. We spent Saturday at leisure in Plymouth before a late afternoon rehearsal. The concert, with poetry readings to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, was in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care, and was very well received, We enjoyed our first performance of Troyte's Chant with some excerpts from Under Milkwood prepared by our Chairman Hilary Thomas.
Mary. This was the second occasion on which we had sung at the Flower Festival. Each time donations were for a charity of the church's choice.
Persain was pleased to support the Chapel's efforts to raise funds for a new roof. This year is the centenary of the start of World War I and our first opportunity to perform For the Fallen along with two well known war poems.


text:
Home News Sony may set up a manufacturing plant in North East India, plans...
Sony may set up a manufacturing plant in North East India, plans to launch premium smartphones
Asif Iqbal Shaik
Sony India is planning to set up a manufacturing plant in the north eastern part of India. As per a report from The Economic Times, Sony is eyeing at a growth rate of 20% in India during the 2017-2018 fiscal period and it expects a good number of its business to emerge through the North East region. The company reportedly invested ₹500 crores for marketing and promotional activities during 2017-2018.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese electronics giant Sony currently manufactures TVs in Tamil Nadu through a contract manufacturer. The company is also planning to enter the premium smartphone market (handsets priced between ₹50,000 and ₹1,00,000) in India. Sony India has already retracted from the entry-level smartphone market in India, especially the price range below ₹15,000.
Sony India Managing Director Kenichiro Hibi said that many Indian states have approached the company asked its officials to set up the company's manufacturing plant in their state. However, the company hasn't made up its mind yet regarding which state it would choose. He also stated that the company's sales were down during November and December due to demonetisation, but they've recovered starting January 2017.
Speaking about the company's mobile phone business, which isn't doing well right now, Hibi said that it was experiencing good sales numbers till 2014. However, sales numbers went down and business took a hit after Chinese brands entered the Indian smartphone market. Sony unveiled the Xperia XZ Premium, Xperia XZs, and two other smartphones during MWC 2017 earlier this week. Hibi said that these smartphones would be launched in India before the Diwali festive period.
[Source: Economic Times]


Do you want to be part of developing the next generation of social workers? If you have previously completed Practice Educator training and are thinking about offering a student placement again, this day is for you.
Delivered by Middlesex University's Social Work department, this interactive workshop will provide up-to-date information to help you plan and manage a placement, provide reflective supervision and assessment.
By the end of the session your knowledge and skills will be refreshed so that you feel prepared and confident to provide a student placement.
Please confirm with your manager and workforce development lead.
*This session is only open to qualified Practice Educators working within the North London Social Work Teaching Partnership.


The Athens War Museum was established on July 18, 1975. Its design and construction began in 1964 by a group of distinguished scientists, led by Thoukididis Valentis, architect and professor at the National Technical University of Athens.
The goal of the Museum is the collection, preservation and presentation of war relics and memorabilia from Greek history, as well as the study and exhibition of the sacred struggles of the Greek Nation, in order to display the historical continuity and unity of Hellenism.
Chaired by Thucydides Valentis, a professor at the Technical University, the committee designed a truly impressive museum that opened in 1975. Since then, thousands of visitors, including many students, have come to explore the museum's permanent and temporary collections.


text:
You are here: Home › Minnesota Lynx to Spend 2017 at Xcel Energy Center
Minnesota Lynx to Spend 2017 at Xcel Energy Center
By Editors on July 21, 2016 in Basketball, WNBA/G-League
The Minnesota Lynx search for a temporary venue in 2017 is over, as the team has announced that it will play its home schedule at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center. Such a move was needed because the Lynx's home–the Target Center–is undergoing a multi-phase renovation, and much of the work will take place during the next WNBA season.
"Our fans will enjoy the experience and amenities that Xcel Energy Center has to offer, while eagerly anticipating the conclusion of our newly renovated home in Minneapolis in time for the 2018 Lynx season," said Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx President Chris Wright. "We look forward to bringing the three-time champion Lynx to the Xcel Energy Center and the opportunity to showcase these amazing athletes who are incredible role models both on and off the court. We also anticipate continuing to build our relationship with the City of St. Paul and becoming more integrated with this first-class community."
"I'm thrilled to be welcoming Minnesota's three-time WNBA champions to the City of Saint Paul for their 2017 season," said Mayor Chris Coleman. "The Lynx are a powerhouse of a team, and an amazing group of athletes to watch – and we hope fans from across the state enjoy doing so from the capital city."
The Xcel Energy Center is home to the NHL's Minnesota Wild and host to more than 150 sporting and entertainment events each year.
"We are proud to welcome these world-class athletes to our building for the 2017 season," said Xcel Energy Center Vice President and General Manager Jack Larson. "The Minnesota Lynx are a great addition to the wide variety of events Xcel Energy Center has become known for hosting and represent our commitment to the community and fans from around the state."
In partnership with Visit Saint Paul, the official convention and visitors bureau for the capital city, the Lynx Tickets for Kids program will be able to welcome local schools and community youth organizations to attend games for free throughout the season.
"We are excited to bring the Lynx to Saint Paul and to provide free access to thousands of young people in our community," said Pat Harris, Chairman of Visit Saint Paul. "It's a win-win for all."
The Lynx chose to make the announcement at this time to inform season ticket members of the change ahead of their upcoming renewals.
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2017, Minnesota Lynx, target center, wnba, xcel energy center
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Q: html input number, min + step, make step ignore min? Is it possible to make the step ignore the min attribute?
<input type="number" min="2" step="5"/>

As it is now, it steps like so: 2, 7, 12, 17, ...
instead, I'd like it to be: 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, ...
My real code actually uses dynamic values like so:
<input type="number" [min]="someValue" [step]="someStep"/>

One way to solve would maybe create a directive to substitute either min or step to do the same thing without taking into consideration the other attribute.
So is there an easy way to do this? Thank you!

A: The step takes the into account the value of the min and max attributes. This is default browser behaviour and I don't think it is a good idea to try and circumvent this.
I would add a data-min attribute with the value of 2 and set min to 0. Now it is possible to check if the value of the input is less than the custom min value and alter the value when needed.
Because now the minimum value is 0 it means that the browser will follow your desired sequence of 0, 5, 10, 15, etc.

const
  inputElement = document.getElementById('input');

function onValueChanged(event) {
  const
    customMin = parseInt(inputElement.getAttribute('data-min'), 10),
    value = parseInt(inputElement.value);

  if (value > customMin) {
    return;
  }

  inputElement.value = customMin;
}

inputElement.addEventListener('change', onValueChanged);
<input id="input" type="number" min="0" step="5" data-min="2" value="2"/>

A: You can just force the min using JS. I did a little experiment, and it works the way you wanted: https://jsfiddle.net/h2n2cmd2/2/
HTML:
<input type="number" id="input">

JS:
var min = 2;
var step = 5;

var inputObj = document.getElementById("input");

inputObj.step = step;

inputObj.oninput = function() {

    if (inputObj.value < min) {
        inputObj.value = min;
    }
}

A: So I ended up making my "step directive", as I didn't know how I could get a handle to the control to trigger an .updateValueAndValidity() and use the .preventDefault(), I had to use a work-around which seems to work well: const fix = isKeyUp ? -1 : 1;
import { Directive, Input, HostListener } from '@angular/core';

const key_arrow_up = 38;
const key_arrow_down = 40;

@Directive({
  selector: '[my-step]'
})
export class MyStepDirective {
  private _step: number;

  @Input() min: number;
  @Input() set myStepArg(value: number) {
    this._step = +value;
  }

  @HostListener('keydown', ['$event']) onKeyUp(ke: KeyboardEvent) {
    const isKeyUp = ke.keyCode === key_arrow_up;
    const isKeyDown = ke.keyCode === key_arrow_down;
    // fix: -1/+1 is to cover for default behavior on arrow up/down
    const fix = isKeyUp ? -1 : 1;

    if (isKeyUp || isKeyDown) {
      const value = +ke.target['value'];
      const isValid = value !== undefined && !isNaN(value);
      if (isValid) {
        const nValue = isKeyUp ? this._getNextUp(value) : this._getNextDown(value);
        if (!this.min || nValue >= this.min)
          ke.target['value'] = nValue + fix;
        else
          ke.target['value'] = this.min + fix;
      }
    }
  }

  constructor() {}

  private _getNextUp(current: number): number {
    return current + this._step - (current % this._step);
  }

  private _getNextDown(current: number): number {
    return current - this._step + (current % this._step);
  }

}

And in the template, I use it like so:
<input type="number" name="cashTendered" required
  my-step [myStepArg]="cashStep" [min]="sale.total">

It should be fairly easy to modify so that it can handle max as well, if you need it.


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A new method for continuous size separation and collection of particles in microfabricated devices, asymmetric pinched flow fractionation (AsPFF), has been proposed and demonstrated. This method improves the separation scheme of pinched flow fractionation (PFF), which utilizes a laminar flow profile inside a microchannel. In this study, multiple branch channels with different channel dimensions were arranged at the end of the pinched segment, so that the flow rate distributions to each branch channel were varied, and a large part of the liquid was forced to go through one branch channel (drain channel). In the proposed channel system, the flow profile inside the microchannel was asymmetrically amplified, enabling the separation of one-order smaller particles compared with PFF. After introducing the method, we examined the effect of the asymmetric amplification by controlling the outlet of the drain channel. Also, a mixture of 1.0 ∼5.0 µm particles was separated, and erythrocytes were successfully separated from blood. The results indicate that the AsPFF method could be applied to the separation of much smaller-size particles, since more precise separation can be achieved simply by changing the geometries of branch channels.


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text:
Fees Venue Important Dates Accommodations
Program Keynote Speakers Themes
Fees Register My Profile Payment(Closed!)
Sponsor Exhibit
Field Trips Others
Session SE2 - Seismic assessment, retrofit and repairability for existing RC buildings
Chairs John Wallace, Fu-Pei Hsiao
Date/Time 17th_AM1, 10:50 ~ 12:20
Location Conference Hall
Click the title of a paper to see the corresponding abstract.
PaperNO
Paper / Abstract
SE2-001
AXIAL COLLAPSE MODELS FOR RC STRUCTURAL WALLS AND WALL PIERS
A large number of reinforced concrete buildings constructed prior to the mid-1970s in earthquake prone regions rely on lightly reinforced or perforated, perimeter structural walls to resist earthquake-induced lateral forces. In general, these walls are susceptible to diagonal tension failures (or distress) when subjected to moderate-to-strong shaking. A significant number of walls with this type of damage were observed in the region affected by the 1999 Chi Chi Earthquake. Despite typically being classified as a brittle failure mode (e.g., by ASCE 41), local or global building collapse was generally not observed, either in the Chi-Chi Earthquake or in the Kocaeli Earthquake impacting Turkey in August 1999. Based on these observations and the lack of studies reported in the literature, research efforts were initiated to study mechanisms and propose models that could be used to predict under what conditions walls or wall piers might lose the ability to support tributary gravity loads. Initial work was conducted between 2005 and 2008 to extend models developed to predict axial failures in columns to walls. However, at the time, relatively little data existed to calibrate and validate the model, in part because most laboratory testing conducted prior to this time frame did not address this issue. However, over the last ten years, a large number of laboratory studies examining the behavior of RC structural walls have been reported in the literature. Based on this new information, a comprehensive wall database has been developed at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that includes detailed information on more than 1000 tests reported in the literature. To study axial failure of RC structural walls, the database is filtered to identify and analyze datasets of 32 and 80 wall tests on shear- and flexure-controlled walls, respectively, where information on behavior following lateral strength loss was available. Based on the newly available data and the prior study, new relationships were derived to predict the lateral drift capacity at axial collapse and derive new modeling parameters for ASCE 41.
John Wallace, Saman Abdullah
ASCE 41, axial failure, database, deformation capacity, flexure critical, shear critical, structural wall
Seismic Assessment Methodology for Corroded Reinforced Concrete Buildings
The durability of older reinforced concrete (RC) structures is significantly affected by corrosion of the reinforcement and is a critical issue for New Zealand RC buildings because of the close proximity of most urban centres to a marine environment. Currently, the seismic assessment of such buildings is a challenging task because there is limited and dispersed guidance for how to assess the residual seismic capacity of corroded RC members and determine the likely overall seismic behaviour of an RC building exhibiting corrosion. An assessment procedure was developed to account for the effect of corrosion on the residual strength and deformation capacity of corroded RC members. Analytical models to predict material and member properties were considered and modified to account for pitting corrosion. These predictions were verified against a large database of experimental results from the available literature. A case study of a severely corroded RC building in New Zealand constructed in the year 1928 was assessed using the proposed methodology to investigate the reduction in seismic capacity due to corrosion. While no change in failure mechanism was found, the overall displacement capacity of the building was reduced by 25% compared to the assessed uncorroded condition. Finally, to estimate the changes in capacity and failure mode with respect to exposure time in a corrosive environment, the long-term corrosion effect was studied for the case study building assuming no remediation of corroded reinforcement. As a result, the displacement capacity was significantly reduced forming storey collapse at less than 1% drift, if no remediation was made after 30 years of continued corrosion deterioration.
Sunil Nataraj, Allan Scott, Jason Ingham, Lucas Hogan
buildings, corrosion, reinforced concrete, residual capacity, seismic assessment
SEISMIC EVALUATION AND FRAGILITY CURVES OF A TYPICAL SCHOOL BUILDING IN TAIWAN
At present, pushover analysis based on the capacity spectrum method is often used for the detailed seismic evaluation of existing typical school buildings in Taiwan. The performance-target ground acceleration is compared with the site's peak ground acceleration (PGA) for a design earthquake with a 475-year return period in order to evaluate whether the seismic capacity is sufficient. However, as stated in FEMA 440, the results of the evaluation are too conservative for relatively short-period structures. In this paper, incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) of a typical school building is used to study its seismic capacity and how conservative is the capacity spectrum method. Additionally, from the results of IDA, a seismic fragility curve of a sample school building can be built in order to evaluate the probability of collapse of this building under an earthquake with the evaluated performance-target PGA. From the analysis results, under the performance-target earthquake for seismic evaluation, this structure has a 5.3% probability of collapse, which is acceptable, and the specified performance target is a reasonable and conservative choice.
Te-Kuang Chow, Yeong-Kae Yeh
capacity spectrum method, detailed seismic evaluation, incremental dynamic analysi, nonlinear pushover analysis
Study on seismic retrofitting for existing buildings with exterior reinforced concrete frames
This research is for existing reinforced concrete structures and uses the external reinforced concrete frames method to retrofit. Study on traditional reinforced concrete retrofit methods (Column-Jacketing, shear walls and etc.). Those that traditional methods usually affect existing building. Take some cases for example-internal structures interior spaces are changed, people can't stay in buildings, and existing walls, windows and doors may need to reinstalled. Those reasons mentioned above restrict promotion of retrofits on buildings.The research on RC existing structures with RC external retrofit frames is taken at NCREE. The research includes experiments and structural analysis. Three specimen are tested with reversed cyclic loading to compare the behaviors between an existing and and two retrofitted frames. The results show that external retrofit frames are effective to increase the lateral strength. Anchors of the interfaces between and there is no separation between existing and external frames. The method provided by this study is suitable to use in real buildings because it was proven to be effective in improving the seismic resistance. In addition, compared with other traditional methods, this retrofitting method can be applied in general buildings without affecting the space and usability of the building during the retrofitting work.
Fu-Pei Hsiao, Pu-Wen Weng, Yi-An Li, Wei-Li Yen, Yi-Ching Lin, KAWAMOTO Takanori, Chao-Hsun Huang
Cyclic Loading Tests, Existing Building, Retrofitted By External Frames, seismic retrofit
Automatic Hinge Property Generation System for Nonlinear Analysis Considering P-M Interaction of Columns
Nonlinear Static Pushover Analysis (NSPA) has been widely used for seismic performance evaluation in Taiwan for years. The analysis requires prediction of nonlinear behavior of each structural element in the buildings. Modeling of the above-mentioned nonlinear behavior is often achieved by concentrated plastic hinges in commercial software for structural analysis and design. According to the relevant state-of-the-art and -practice in Taiwan, the hinge properties are different from the built-in default properties. In order to reduce the complexity of defining plenty of non-default hinges, an automatic user-defined hinge property generation system designed for structural analysis software, SAP2000, are presented in this paper. The nonlinear hinge properties of this system are based on Taiwan Earthquake Assessment for Structures by Pushover Analysis (TEASPA) with additional consideration of P-M interaction behavior. The system is composed of three modules: SecGen, FrameInfo, and HingeProp. These modules can generate section properties, extract frame information and compute hinge properties, respectively. By utilizing the system, engineers can perform nonlinear analysis with the most state-of-the-art P-M hinge properties in Taiwan with the least effort. The system has been used in case studies. The result shows that the P-M interaction behavior of vertical elements definitely impacts the seismic performance of buildings with large height to depth ratio.
Chi-Hang Li, Jian-Hwang Weng, Chien-Chun Liu, Guan-Hao Hung, Qiang Xue
hinge, nonlinear, P-M interaction, pushover, seismic assessment
DATA SYSTEM AND DATA ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL BUILDING RETROFITTING IN TAIWAN
A series of projects has been carried out to organize and manage the procedures of safety evaluation, retrofitting design, and engineering of existing school house buildings in Taiwan since year 2008. More than twenty thousands of school house buildings were evaluated by professional licensed structural engineers, and thousands of them have either on the progress actively or have completed their retrofitting engineering, leveraging the overall seismic safety of possibly up to millions of students. The process of every school house building being evaluated or retrofitted involves many persons and rules, yielding to a complicated interactions and networking of documentation exchanges, organization, progress monitoring, and management. None of these achievements could be realized without a stable and well organized database system of the school house retrofitting. With thousands of user accounts, tens of thousands of records, possibly millions of files of documentations, tens of records of buildings being updated every day, the school house retrofitting database system has been providing many types of services, as well as being progressively modified, updated, and debugged continuously during it service. This paper introduces the basic framework and functionalities of this framework. In addition, some of the preliminary data analysis is also presented. The experiences of development of this database system aims to facilitate the construction of future projects of structural retrofitting or similar projects.
Yuan-Sen Yang, Jia-Xing Liao, Ting-Wei Chang, Lap-Loi Chung, Shyh-Jiann Hwang
database management system, School house building retrofitting, school house retrofitting data analysis
Total: 6 papers
[Program]
International Conference in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake
財團法人國家實驗研究院國家地震工程研究中心
National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE), National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs)


Instead of using 2 hoppers that feed into each other, you can use 4 hoppers that feed in a circle, each one connecting to the next one. This slows down the rate that the command block gets executed by 50% but it still works in Minecraft 1.8.... 24/03/2011 · How can a mac user use the F3 debug screen?
How to Hide the Debug Window. When you are done viewing your coordinates, you can close the debug window in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac). To close the debug window, press the F3 key in Windows or fn + F3 key on the Mac.... In this approach, simply (1) navigate to a location in the Minecraft world, (2) use the function key F3 to determine the coordinates of the Block on which your avatar is standing, and (3) issue the spawnpoint command in the command prompt window where CanaryMod is running.
24/03/2011 · How can a mac user use the F3 debug screen? how to set jpg as mac icon F3 acts as volume up by default, and F3 only if the Fn key is simultaneously depressed. And so on. My understanding of the hardware is, therefore, that the F1 signal is only being sent to the OS when the Fn+F1 combination is pressed.
2/08/2012 · Yes, holding down the "fn" key then pressing "f3" will do the trick. :wink.gif: If this is a nuisance I believe there is an option in preferences to use the function keys as regular keys (so you don't have to use "fn").
10/04/2016 · Shift+F3 : Opens the debug screen (NOTE: Some laptops and Mac users won't be able to open the Debug screen so either use Fn + F3 or Fn + Shift + F3) Leave a rating if this helped! Have fun playing Minecraft now!
You can also use default Minecraft border. Connection Lag (high latency/ping) Latency, or otherwise known as ping is the time it takes packets from your computer to reach the server.
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In this approach, simply (1) navigate to a location in the Minecraft world, (2) use the function key F3 to determine the coordinates of the Block on which your avatar is standing, and (3) issue the spawnpoint command in the command prompt window where CanaryMod is running.


text:
Q: postgres function - declare variable with select statement i have modifed my function, but i have problems with declare variables. I used postgres 8.4. Have someone an idea?
Function:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION requestcounterid(_mindate timestamptz, _maxdate timestamptz)
  RETURNS TABLE (kategorien text, requestcounter int) AS
$func$
DECLARE
_minid bigint;
_maxid bigint;

BEGIN

_minid := (SELECT id from tablename  where starttime >= $1 ORDER BY tablename2 ASC LIMIT 1);
_maxid := (SELECT id from tablename  where starttime < $2 ORDER BY tablename2 DESC LIMIT 1);

SELECT CASE WHEN duration <= 10000000 THEN '00-01 sec'::text
            WHEN duration <= 40000000 THEN '01-04 sec'
            WHEN duration <= 100000000 THEN '04-10 sec'
            WHEN duration <= 300000000 THEN '10-30 sec'
            WHEN duration <= 600000000 THEN '30-60 sec'
            ELSE 'more than 60 sec' END
     , count(*)::int
FROM   tablename
WHERE  id >= _minid and id <= _maxid
GROUP  BY 1
ORDER  BY 1;

END;
$func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

Error:
ERROR:  query has no destination for result data
HINT:  If you want to discard the results of a SELECT, use PERFORM instead.
CONTEXT:  PL/pgSQL function "requestcounterid" line 11 at SQL statement

Regrads

A: Now it workes:
   CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION requestcounterid(_mindate timestamptz, _maxdate timestamptz)
      RETURNS TABLE (kategorien text, requestcounter int) AS
    $func$
    DECLARE
    _minid bigint;
    _maxid bigint;

    BEGIN

SELECT id  INTO _minid from tablename where starttime >= $1 ORDER BY starttime ASC LIMIT 1;
SELECT id  INTO _maxid from tablename  where starttime < $2 ORDER BY starttime DESC LIMIT 1;

    Return Query SELECT CASE WHEN duration <= 10000000 THEN '00-01 sec'::text
                WHEN duration <= 40000000 THEN '01-04 sec'
                WHEN duration <= 100000000 THEN '04-10 sec'
                WHEN duration <= 300000000 THEN '10-30 sec'
                WHEN duration <= 600000000 THEN '30-60 sec'
                ELSE 'more than 60 sec' END
         , count(*)::int
    FROM   tablename
    WHERE  id >= _minid and id <= _maxid
    GROUP  BY 1
    ORDER  BY 1;

    END;
    $func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;